Customer Reviews

Extravaganza

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hey, Hedgehog and Stanley, both produced by George Martin, were not on the original record. This is actually the original album as it was released on Rocket label in the UK. Americans, over-inventive as usual, included those two songs (probably a single) on their version of Extravaganza, leaving out Spin 'Round the Room and Highbury Incident, which they later squeezed into Pinafore Days (their version of The Man in The Bowler hat) for some reason. So this one is the original, and I highly recommend it to all lovers of genuine British folk/music hall tradition. Enjoy.

I am not so much a Stackridge fan as an Extravaganza fan. The talents that came together briefly to make this album were outstanding and it is quite simply my favourite album of all time, any genre. It is the combination of great songs, many of them written by Rod Bowkett on this album and the interplay of keyboards, sax, clarinet, flute, violin, drums, lead and base guitars that make Extravaganza musically exceptional. There is such a variety here with wonderfully whimsical, humorous lyrics and three great instrumentals. There is a feeling of spontaneity and ingenuity. The overall sound is both very full and intricate. In the thirty years since I first bought this album on vinyl in the UK, I have yet to come across anything as satisfying as a good listen to Extravaganza. As a reference point for those that have not heard Extravaganza, the closest to the feel of this music that I can think of is evoked by 10cc's Original Soundtrack album.

want to escape from all your problems and be entertained for
at least 35 minutes? well, this album is for you. i absolutely
adore this album!I've heard three of their other albums(MR. MICK, FRIENDLINESS and the American version of MAN IN
THE BOWLER HAT, PINAFORE DAYS) and I really don't like them too
much.Their other albums have very funny and original song
titles and song lyrics, but musically I find them very dull and
uninteresting. The singing, while nice and pretty, doesn't grab
me and pull me in, either. Musically, they're a combination of the BEATLES during their REVOLVER, SGT. PEPPERS and MAGICAL MYSTERY era minus the attractive melodies, and boring folk music. The one exception is THE GALLOPING GAUCHO from PINAFORE DAYS, featuring the distinct vocals of my favorite STACKRIDGE singer MUTTER SLATER. Everything came together for STACKRIDGE on EXTRAVAGANZA. This album was STACKRIDGE at their funniest and contains
their best songs. the version i own on lp starts out with the
album's best song and funniest song, THE VOLUNTEER. the singing
is very RINGO STARR-ish and the lyrics and the music are very
clever and very funny! the mellotron gives the song a prog rock feel, while the violin and guitar playing give the song a slight country/western feel.this is a song MONTY PYTHON could've
written! the instrumentals on this album, RUFUS T. FIREFLY and
WHO'S THAT UP THERE...(the title of the 3rd one eludes me at the
moment) can best be described as jazzy, children's carnival
music. another irresistably catchy and hilarious song is HAPPY IN
THE LORD.the little speech at the end is a riot and reminds me of
HAWKEYE'S dream in that M*A*S*H* episode where everyone has
nightmares! on the opposite
end of the spectrum is NO ONE'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE EARTH-
WORM, which was penned by ex-KING CRIMSON singer GORDON HASKELL.
it's a very melancholy song, with a very appropriate guitar solo. The BEATLES influence shows up the most on DO THE STANLEY, which originally appeared on the previous STACKRIDGE album, and BENJAMIN'S GIANT ONION, which also sounds a bit like THE KINKS song SUNNY AFTERNOON. The only track I don't like is
GREASEPAINT SMILES... and I'm a tad on the indifferent side to THE INDIFFERENT HEDGEHOG. A VERY GOOD ALBUM!!
( I just picked this album up on cd and the cd version has the
original U.K. track lineup, which replaces DO THE STANLEY and
THE INDIFFERENT HEDGEHOG with two weaker tracks, SPIN ROUND THE
ROOM and HIGHBURY INCIDENT. I prefer the U.S. version of this,one
because that's the version I'm used to and two because it doesn't
place all three instrumentals so close together. By placing them
so close together, it only showed how similar all three instru-
mentals are and the U.S. version spreads them out a little, giv-
ing the album a much more varied feel.)

I know that Stackridge fans are generally split when it comes to Extravaganza because it is a bit different than their first three. Without going into a really detailed, long review I am going to say that I am one of the fans that find this album to be quite good. Now, this album is a bit more rocking, and a bit less lush and symphonic that their first three releases. After all, in reality, this was pretty much a different group than the group on the first three albums (4 of the 6 members had been replaced). Keith Gemmell who had been the woodwind man in Audience is here, and contributes a lot to the sound of the band (some of the parts sound very Audience-like in the production). There are some very good progressive-pop melodies here, along with good lyrics, three very Zappa-influenced instrumentals that are just great, totally stellar musicianship, and very solid production by Tony Ashton. I think that it is worth getting if you are a fan and are willing to accept the fact that it sounds a bit different than the first three. If you don't have any Stackridge and are curious, then I would recommend that you get "Friendliness" first.

With the exclusion of "Hedgehog" and "The Stanley" from the original album it leaves a bit to be desired. Fidelity is lacking being a little short at higher frequencies. On a upscale note, however, "No One's More Important Than The Earthworm" has the very distinguishable flavor of the 1970's. A combinaton of classic hard rock and psychodelic lyrics that no one can relate to.